Paola Pezzo, mountain biking's current World and Olympic
cross-country
Champion, tested positive for the presence of steroids following
her victory
in the Annecy, France World Cup finals in September.

While a
hearing is the only formal action taken so far, it is believed that,
depending on the outcome of the inquiry by the Italian Olympic
Committee, Pezzo could face disciplinary actions by her federation, the Union
Cycliste
Internationale (UCI) or both. Disciplinary action taken could range from a six month to a two-year
suspension. A resident of Italy, Pezzo races for her home country
under the
U.S. sponsorship of Gary Fisher Bicycles, a Trek-owned bicycle line
based in
Waterloo, WI.

According to Team Gary Fisher spokesman Jackson Lynch, the specific
substance
which Pezzo tested positive for is Nandrolone, "a long acting
anabolic steroid
often used by body builders to build muscle mass." The tests were
administered
by the Chatenay-Malabry lab in Paris.

"I've never taken this stuff  I've never taken
anything. I am
innocent... and despite the difficult situation, I'll come back and
race in
1998..."

The incident comes to light amid growing
concern in road
and mountain biking about possible drug use by athletes. Four male
cross country racers were removed from their World Championship
events for
high haematocrit levels - typically indicative of Epogen use.
Pezzo, for her
part, had passed 10 drug tests last season and passed anti-doping
controls at
Houffalize a week previous, then two weeks after Annecy at the
Worlds in
Chateau d'Oex, Switzerland.

"I've never taken this stuff - I've never taken
anything. I am
innocent... and despite the difficult situation, I'll come back and
race in
1998," Pezzo, speaking through Team Gary Fisher from her home in
Boscochiesanuova,
Italy, stated. She also alluded to the fact that, if not cleared of these
charges, she may
retire from racing.

According to a statement released today by Team Gary Fisher, the
UCI notified
the Italian Cycling Federation on October 29, 1997 that Pezzo had tested
positive for
Nandrolone at the World Cup Finals in Annecy, France. On November
27, the
analysis of Pezzo's Annecy sample was declared positive again after
a second
test by the Chatenay-Malabry lab. The results, which were supposed
to have
been kept secret until a hearing scheduled for January 3, were
leaked to the
media by an individual at the Italian Olympic Committee.

As a
result of that
Jan. 3 hearing, Mountain Bike Magazine reports the Italian Olympic
Committee's
Medical Control Commission has chosen to send her case to the
Italian Cycling
Federation's Discipline Committee. The federation is supposed to
make a
decision by January 17, where the commission can
enter into a
penalty phase. When asked for a statement, Anne-Laure Masson, the
Medical and
Anti-doping Coordinator for the UCI Antidoping Commission responded
that they do "not give any statement on positive cases."

Team Gary Fisher's statement continues:
"Paola Pezzo has been a
member of the
Gary Fisher family for over five years. We have a very close and
abiding
relationship with Paola, her family and her trainer and at no time have we ever thought or been
given any
indication that Paola was using any questionable performance
enhancing
substances. It is our belief, given the history of the lab, the
steroid
allegedly involved, and her testing history, that Paola's positive
test result
is a lab error. Gary Fisher and Gary Fisher Bicycles remain steadfast in
their support of Paola Pezzo and we're certain that whatever happens
Paola will
successfully defend her rainbow [World Champion] jersey in Mont.
Ste-Anne,
Quebec this fall."

The Fisher statement concludes with the following points which suggest
possible
erroneous lab results. These claims, though have not
been
confirmed by The Mountain Zone.

"Nandrolone is a steroid used to build muscle mass - a logical
choice
for body builders or offensive tackles, but not for cross-country
cyclists. It also stays in the body for a comparatively long time,
which makes it unlikely that Paola would have used it between the
last
two World Cup races and just weeks before the World Championships."

The Chatenay-Malabry lab is quite controversial. Last summer, the
lab
reported positive tests, also for Nandrolone, for several French
soccer
players. Like Pezzo, the soccer players protested vigorously,
pointing
out the unsuitability of Nandrolone for their sport."

Regardless of the findings or discipline imposed, Paola's World
Championship status is not in jeopardy. Any discipline will
involve
only the Annecy race and the World Cup standings."

Also included in the team's statement is the following medical
opinion, which
we have included for your edification and further information
regarding
Pezzo's specific case.

Discussion Of The Specific Case Of Paola Pezzo Prepared By Dr. Guido Norbiato, Interdisciplinary Research For Clinical & Experimental Advancement:

Milan-"The UCI has declared that Paola Pezzo was positive for Nandrolone
use at a
race in Annecy, France on 6 September, 1997. The quantity of
norandrosterone
found in 1ml of the medical control sample was 7.1 nanograms and
that of
noretiocolanone was 12.4 nanograms. The urine in the medical
control sample
was highly concentrated ( specific weight 1026-1026 ), which shows
that Pezzo
did not drink and was dehydrated; the worst condition to perform an
accurate
medical control (the concentration of Nandrolone could be 3 to 4
times that
of urine in a normally diluted sample).

The reference standard used for Pezzo's test was flawed;
-the grade of purity was not known
- the level of hydration was not known.
Only one point of reference was used for Pezzo's test, not a
standard
procedure of using a reference curve for the sample test. So, in
any case, the
medical control test that resulted in a finding of positive for
Paola Pezzo
is, without a doubt, imprecise. If, by hypothesis, the
concentration was not
stated by milliliter, but by the quantity of urine produced in
12-24 hours (or
by milligram of creatine ) and not stated in the imprecise manner,
the values
of Paola Pezzo's test would have certainly been within any base
standard as
decided by the IOC.

Pezzo's World Champ form(photo: Brent Brookler)

Another important consideration regarding
Paola Pezzo is
the negative result of her medical control tests both the week
before (30
August 1997 - Houffalize, Belgium) and two weeks after the race in
question
(21 September 1997 - Chateau d'Oex, Switzerland). This will
certainly exclude
the possibility that the athlete was injected with Nandrolone,
which has a
prolonged duration in the body and would have certainly resulted in
positive
tests in either or both races cited.

And it seems absolutely improbable, if not completely crazy that,
taking into
account the slow anabolic action of Nandrolone, that Paola Pezzo
would have
voluntarily taken norandrosterone orally (a hormone that is
transformed in
the liver into Nandrolone) in the few days between 30 August and
that of 6
September, the date of the positive test. In fact. Pezzo stayed in
Belgium
until 4 September and may have eaten meat which contained high
levels of
steroids (Belgian meat is notorious for high levels of hormone
treatment).

For these combined reasons, I consider it reasonable that Paola
Pezzo did not
voluntarily take Nandrolone in the race in question. The low levels
of
norandrosterone and noreticolanolone that were found can be
attributed to
imprecise procedures and processes on the part of the
testing laboratory, as well as the involuntary ingestion of food
that was
contaminated with Nandrolone, which would produce the hormone
byproducts that
resulted in the positive test on 6 September, 1997."